Truckers want rest stops open

Truck drivers are joining the long list of groups going before retired judge Kathleen Blatz to ask for relief.

MPR's Laura Yuen report:

The truckers want the state to re-open freeway rest areas so that they can make their mandatory stops. The law requires them to pull over for 10 hours after driving for 11 hours.

John Hausladen is the president of the Minnesota Trucking Association. He says private truck stops are over capacity, so drivers are running out of places to park.

"They're doing the best they can, but this morning I saw a couple trucks parked on an entrance ramp to a freeway. They don't want to park there. No one wants them to park there. But where do you park a 75-foot unit? You have to do it."

The truckers group is arguing that the rest stop closures present a public-safety issue. It's also concerned because some truckers whose commercial drivers licenses have expired have been unable to renew them during the shutdown.